Wii Holiday Buyer’s Guide

The Bell Tree posted a Wii Holiday Buyer’s Guide recently, and it’s most certainly worth checking out. Yours truly also made some recommendations (which can be found at the bottom of each category’s page). Here’s a list of the recommended games, along with excerpts from the guide.

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Mass Appeal
Super Mario Galaxy

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams
Mario Strikers Charged

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Hardcore
Zack & Wiki: Quest For Barbaros’ Treasure
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Trauma Center: New Blood
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2
Batallion Wars II
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

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Casual
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends
Wii Play

EA Playground
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree

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Virtual Console
ActRaiser
Shining Force
Adventures Of Lolo
Super Mario Bros. Series
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Bonk’s Adventure
Sin and Punishment
Ninja Gaiden (II)
Paper Mario

Early 2008 Wii Games Videos

Here are some videos for Wii games to be released in the first couple months of 2008, along with a little info about each game.

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Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is to be released during the first couple months of 2008, with a rumored release to be on January 8th. Zero Gravity is the sequel to Sonic Riders, which came out in early 2006.

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Endless Ocean has already been released in Japan and Europe. Your goal in Endless Ocean is to discover treasures and sea life in the ocean.

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No More Heroes is created by Suda 51 (the same guy who made Killer 7). You take on the role of an assasin, and attempt to gain street cred by becoming the best katana assasin around.

Nintendo Wii: Still the Gift to Give This Holiday Season?

Last year, just around the holidays, stores were out of stock on Nintendo Wii’s wherever you went. The reason why goes without saying. It was nearly impossible to find a Wii last year around this time, if you hadn’t received one launch-day.

Now, the question is…is history repeating itself? Is the same thing happening again? Well, from what I (and many many others) have been hearing, the answer is a resounding “yes”.

People will have a far easier time finding Xbox360’s or Playstation3’s then they will Nintendo Wii’s this year. Which, of course, is disappointing news for those people…but great news for Nintendo.

The Wii just still might be the gift to give this holiday season. I hope all of you out there looking will be able to get your hands on one. I suggest, to those of you, calling stores ahead of time and possibly having them hold one for you from their next shipment if at all possible.

Now, I won’t jump to any conclusions with my personal accusations here, but I will say that I am quite happy for Nintendo’s success. Then again, did we really expect anything different?

Happy Anniversary DS!

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the beloved handheld system, the Nintendo DS. Wow, it seems to me like it was only yesterday when I was un-boxing my first one, too…time sure does fly when your having fun. Or in this case…playing games.

The DS is truly a wonderful system, and one that should be remembered through the ages. It has taken us places no other handheld has. Sure, it let us hook up with a nearby friend to play wirelessly (which was amazing to us all at first), but then came WiFi. This took gamers to the next level, playing other competitive gamers across the world.

It’s also provided us with amazing titles, such as Phantom Hourglass, Elite Beat Agents, Phoenix Wright, Animal Crossing Wild Word, and SO much more.

To anyone that has yet to experience this remarkable gaming device, I advise you to try and pick one up this holiday season. The DS is, and forever will live on as, a Legend.

Black Friday Sales (Updated)

More Black Friday sales for Nintendo products have been leaked onto the internet since our last update. To see the original update, listing Target’s and Best Buy’s Wii and DS sales on Black Friday, click here.

Toys ‘R Us
Meteos Disney Magic - DS game ($10)
**All Gamecube games - 50% off**
Assorted Disney games - DS ($10)
Other select DS games - ($10)
**No specific games have been announced, but there will be Wii games for $15!**

Circuit City
SUPER MARIO GALAXY - WII GAME ($35)
Red Steel - Wii game ($10)
DS Bundles - $140 (either Legend of Zelda or Nintendogs)
Happy Feet - Wii game ($10)
Free $10 gift card with purchase of Mario Strikers Charged - Wii game
Cooking Mama or Cake Mania - DS games ($10)

GameStop
Wii Remote Charger ($10)
**Buy 2 used games, get 1 free (should be for all systems including Wii & DS, but no guarantee)
Rockstar Table Tennis - Wii game ($30)

Super Mario Galaxy for only $35!

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Toys ‘R Us has the most DS game sales, by far. Although the games may not be of the best quality, the number of DS games for $10 at Toys ‘R Us is crazy.The biggest sale is probably $15 off Super Mario Galaxy at Circuit City. Super Mario Galaxy just came out, and is selling unbelievably well - discounting it so much means Circuit City really wants you in their store, it would be assumed.GameStop seems to think that games for Wii will just sell themselves, without any major sales or promotions. They’re probably right, but that $35 Galaxy deal is pretty tempting.

All sales info courtesy of Black Friday Ads.

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Pimp My… Dolphin?!?!?

Over at GameStop’s site, someone made a pretty funny mistake - for the upcoming Pimp My Ride game for Wii, a picture of the Dreamcast game Ecco the Dolphin was put where Pimp My Ride’s boxart belongs. I guess Ecco is putting Xzibit out of his job.

Wii Zapper & Link’s Crossbow Training Info

We first saw the final version of the Wii Zapper this past July, but at that time we had no clue it was going to be sold along with a game. But, alas, it is. Link’s Crossbow Training is bundled with every Wii Zapper, which sells for $20. The Zapper is actually just a case for the remote and nunchuk, unlike the remote and nunchuk, which actually have buttons and everything else you’d expect in a controller.

In Link’s Crossbow Training, there are 3 gameplay modes: Target Shooting (shooting at a bullseye), Defender (you stand still, but defend approaching enemies from all around you), and Ranger (in which you go through a level and shoot enemies).

Remember, the Wii Zapper and Link’s Crossbow Training are only $20 together, meaning that neither is going to be amazing. Link’s Crossbow Training is a pretty short game, and the Zapper should get the job done in future games (like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Medal of Honor 2: Heroes), but as of right now, it seems that $20 is all this pair is worth, no more.

Here’s a 1 minute video highlighting the Wii Zapper and Link’s Crossbow Training. It’s kind of corny, but it shows how the Zapper is used and the different game modes in Crossbow Training.

Check out The Bell Tree’s review of Link’s Crossbow Training and the Wii Zapper here.

New DS Model?

Recently, it has been reported that a new model of the Nintendo DS is in the works. Not much was said about it, other than the fact that it will be thinner (likely more sleek as well) and to much disappointment, there will be no GBA cartridge slot.

This was interesting news…but I wouldn’t consider it very good news. Personally, I was a big fan of the GBA titles, and still enjoy playing them from time to time, as I’m sure many of you do also. While this is a slight disappointment though, I’m not sure if it’s enough of an issue to actually stop someone from purchasing this item.

For those of us who’s DS’s have taken a bit of a toll by now, this might be a good opportunity for us, nonetheless.

Who knows, though? Nintendo is full of surprises. Maybe they’ll introduce something for the DS that will be so amazing, we’ll forget about the lack of the GBA slot.

More on this as it develops.

Fake Wii Shortages, Free Wii Games, Win a Wii Contest

Just a week ago, Circuit City was found to be cheating their customers out of the free copy of Call of Duty 3 as part of an advertised deal. So, you’d think the big retailers would figure out that cheating the customer is not the right way to go. Well, Best Buy obviously didn’t learn quick enough.

John (a reader of the site his name is linked to) witnessed Best Buy employees selling the last Wii in their store last Saturday - twice! One of the salespeople was holding a Wii, walking around the store claiming that it was their last one. It took just minutes to sell. Just under an hour later, another salesperson did the same exact thing. Although this isn’t illegal, there’s a good chance someone in that store left after an employee announced that the last one was sold… possibly going home to their kids without the Wii they had hoped to get. This is dirty on Best Buy’s part.

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But, Toys R Us seems to prefer giving away a lot rather than a little… giving away for free, that is. There has been no official word on Toys R Us’ part, but rumors are going around that from November 18th to 21st, all Wii games will be “Buy 2, Get 1 Free”. This is an amazing deal - 3 games for $100, or less.

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Also, if you are undecided whether you want a Wii or not, but wouldn’t mind getting a free one, your lucky day might be here soon. During Thanksgiving weekend (the 22nd to 25th), Comedy Central will be airing a code every hour (48 hours over the 4 day period), in which a Wii (along with other stuff) will be given away every hour.

Super Mario Galaxy Impressions (Mini Review / Minimal Spoilers)

I’ve played Super Mario Galaxy for about an hour and a half, and collected 6 of the 120 stars so far. Here’s what I have to say about the game so far:

One thing I especially liked about Super Mario Sunshine was the environment. Super Mario Galaxy puts Sunshine’s environment to shame, and, mind you, I haven’t even wandered around a handful of galaxies yet. The planets are amazingly put together - incorporating so many things into one small “level” (for lack of a better word). Each planet is so unique and abstract, it’s unbelievable.

The puzzles on each planet are great, too. They aren’t so difficult where they become nearly impossible to solve, but a lot of them aren’t the most simple puzzles, either. But enough about that; I’m not the first (nor the last) who will tell you how much fun Super Mario Galaxy is.

Surprisingly, Nintendo created one of the most visually beautiful games of this generation in Super Mario Galaxy. A lot of people said that the Wii wouldn’t be able to have a game with amazing graphics, but I’d like for all non-believers to give Galaxy a shot, and then tell me they think the graphics are anything short of astounding.

I can go on and on about these things all night long, but there’s no need to. This game seems to have some intangible factor that makes it so addictive, so fun, so beautiful, and so… fresh. Yes, fresh! A fresh Mario experience. Unlike Sunshine, which seemed a bit too similar to Super Mario 64, or Super Mario 64 DS, which was exactly the same as Super Mario 64, Galaxy feels new. This, above all other things, is why I think this could either be the best Mario game ever made, or at least a close 2nd to Super Mario 64.

Feel free to post comments with your thoughts on the game, or, if you don’t have it yet, what you’re hoping for.